Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I kicked off the thread, so I feel a little obligated to add a few more. But all in all, I think it’s safe to declare DWTSMTB a critical success…
Interview with The Fader:
http://www.thefader.com/2014/10/02/lucinda-williams-another-country-interview4 out of 5 from Renowned for Sound:
http://renownedforsound.com/index.php/album-review-lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone/The highly regarded Stephen M. Duesner for Wondering Sound:
http://www.wonderingsound.com/review/lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone-highway-20/5 out of 5 from Blurt’s Fred Mills:
http://blurtonline.com/review/lucinda-williams-spirit-meets-bone/BTW, that last one is a reworded and expanded version of Mills’ review from Stomp & Stammer, noted earlier. I think he more artfully worded his criticisms in the first section, and I gotta say I really love his review for this record. And, hey, he’s contributing a score of 100 to the Metacritic score!
Not that any of that matters – I’ve been listening to this beast nearly constantly, and I can’t get enough. 😀
Crazy cool photos from the instore over at BrooklynVegan:
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2014/10/lucinda_william_8.htmlGreat interview and article in HuffPo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-bialas/compassion-play-lucinda-w_b_5904472.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment&ir=EntertainmentInterview with Vogue:
http://www.vogue.com/2080695/lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone/PopMatters review:
http://www.popmatters.com/review/186030-lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone/Yet another very positive review, this one from the NY Times’ Ben Ratliff:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/arts/music/new-albums-from-lucinda-williams-and-christopher-owens.htmlBTW, the review shares space with a review for Christopher Owens’ new album A New Testament. I believe Mr. David Sutton did a little moonlighting on that release.
BTW, All Eyes Media has reproduced the Paste article in a handsome PDF format, should you like to preserve it for future reference (1.9MB download):
http://alleyesmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/LucindaWilliams-PASTE-Cover-Story.pdfMore positive notices…
3.5 out of 4 stars from the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/sc-ent-0926-music-lucinda-willliams-20140929-column.htmlAlso very positive review from Boston Globe:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/09/28/lucinda-williams-down-where-spirit-meets-bone/iiUIGDtwi2CNlkUr2uJuJJ/story.html4 out of 5 from All Music’s Mark Deming:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone-mw0002705032Interview with Aquarium Drunkard:
http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2014/09/29/lucinda-williams-the-aquarium-drunkard-interview/Nice write-up of the event from LA Daily News (including mention of Stuart’s mom):
http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20140927/way-over-yonder-2014-rocks-first-night-with-lucinda-williams-local-nativesGreat photos as well:
http://photos.dailynews.com/2014/09/photos-way-over-yonder-folk-music-festival#1Review from Stomp and Stammer:
http://www.stompandstammer.com/content/view/5968/1/That opening paragraph is likely to ruffle some feathers around here, but it’s nice to see that the new album is winning over even skeptics.
5 Stars from The Independent (leave it to the Brits!):
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone-album-review-this-is-a-careerdefining-piece-of-work-9757601.htmlAnd a couple of new items from the past 24 hours:
San Francisco Chronicle (new album, plus Hardly Strictly appearance):
http://www.sfchronicle.com/music/article/Lucinda-Williams-ready-to-rock-Hardly-Stricly-5778301.phpAustin Chronicle review:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2014-09-26/lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone/Nashville.com (Americana Music Festival recap, brief album mention but nice photo from CW): http://www.nashville.com/music/2014/09/lucinda-williams-closes-another-spectacular-americana-music-festival/
Per an earlier comment from vmorris regarding reviews, I wouldn’t look too much to critics (see above Austin Chron review) to add much to your understanding or appreciation of the record. Most music critics, what’s left of them, don’t have an ax to grind with Lucinda or any other artist, but I imagine they are expected to portray themselves as objective in their opinions (hence the “taketh and giveth” nature of many reviews). Such a stance is inherently contradictory – music critics are presumed to be its most passionate fans but yet are expected to be objective? I doubt that either of those assumptions are, or can be, entirely true.
I suspect that many forum members have already listened to the NPR stream of the record more than most critics will EVER listen to it. So who are the real experts in the end? Just my worthless two cents.
Here’s a quick rundown of items previously noted in other threads:
Paste magazine article:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/09/lucinda-williams-precious-things-1.htmlSlant magazine review:
http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-boneTone Audio #65 review (link to PDF download of free publication, 27 MB, pg. 16): http://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_065.pdf
Interview with David Bianco about the album, Mix magazine (also included in the September issue): http://mixonline.com/recording/artists_engineers_producers/double-dose_of_lucinda_williams_down_where_the_spirit_meets_the_bone/
No Depression review (probably not the last from this site):
http://www.nodepression.com/album-review/blues-brother-lucinda-williams-gets-down-where-spirit-meets-boneRolling Stone article:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/lucinda-williams-discusses-the-music-that-inspired-her-new-double-album-20140904I think that about covers it for previously mentioned items. More to come, I expect.
BTW, the on sale listing for the Majestic Theater in Dallas (Nov. 5) has been noted as Friday morning, but tickets are on sale now (no code or anything special required).
http://www.prekindle.com/promo/id/23543011511815946Also, I think a number of pre-sales go live today, including Nov. 4 – Stubbs in Austin (via C3 Concerts, password: SPIRIT):
http://www.c3concerts.com/events/lucinda-williams-stubbs-20141111-4315/Finally, I saw a couple of press items online that had an incorrect listing of tour dates (Austin was listed as Nov. 11, for instance). I’d stick with the High Road Touring itinerary as the gospel.
Slant Magazine is a little early out of the gate with this one:
http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/lucinda-williams-down-where-the-spirit-meets-the-bone
Four stars.Speaking of that next record, if you didn’t read the Billboard record, you missed these tantalizing tidbits:
“We recorded enough stuff for three albums, actually,” Williams tells Billboard. “They weren’t all my songs. We cut a JJ Cale song, ‘Blond Hair and Blue Eyes.’ We recorded Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Factory.’ There’s a lot of tracks that were done with Bill Frisell. Then I had some older songs that hadn’t been put on anything yet. So it was a combination of things.”
The result is “the next album that comes out, the one that’s not quite ready yet but we pretty much know what’s going to be on it,” Williams says. It will include a 15-minute gospel/blues/reggae treatment of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Saving Grace,” recorded in Los Angeles with musicians from a Rastafarian church.
In the meantime, I can honestly say there hasn’t been even an average (for Lucinda) track among these previews – all of them stellar, to my ears. Seems like Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone is going to be well worth the wait. Beautiful work by all of these musicians, and AMAZING guitar work by all of these guys (McCallum, Mathis, Frisell, Leisz, Wilson – still waiting to hear Doug’s contribution).
